rover

Interactive Mars panorama: As close as you'll get to being there

My brother sometimes threatens to run away and join the eventual one-way human mission to Mars. He can get a better idea of what would await him by checking out an interactive, panoramic view of the planet as seen by the Curiosity rover.

Panographer Andrew Bodrov posted an explorable image of Mars to 360Cities. This is what it would it would look like if Google had been able to attach a Street View camera to the rover.

You can zoom and rotate the image to get a detailed, immersive view of the rocky surface, horizon, and the rover itself. It's the next best thing to being there, but without the crushing cold and lack of oxygen.… Read more

iPhone has a better cam than Curiosity

Friday's top headlines won't judge you by your megapixels:

The Curiosity Mars rover cost $2.5 billion, so why are the cameras just 2 megapixels? The answer comes down to time: Time the rover was planned, the time it takes NASA to test, and the time it takes to transmit larger file sizes.

As Apple and Samsung duke it out in court over patents and copycat claims, Google isn't sitting back quietly. CNET has learned that Google is quietly helping out it's Android partner Samsung with legal advice.

Not all NASA news this week has been … Read more

Apple calls Samsung a copycat in court

Apple is using Samsung's own words against it in their high-stakes patent-infringement trial.

Apple pointed to an internal Samsung document highlighting the weaknesses of the Galaxy S1 compared with the iPhone as further evidence that Samsung has copied its work. The document, a "relative evaluation report" on the Galaxy S1 and iPhone published in March 2010 and unearthed by Apple, highlights where Samsung's flagship phone fell short of the iPhone.

Apple will draw on this document as proof that Samsung actively compared its products against the iPhone, and made strides to better mimic the blockbuster device. … Read more

Friday Poll: Will the Mars rover find signs of life?

The 1976 Viking mission to Mars uncovered some tantalizing, and much-debated, evidence of possible previous life on the big, red planet. Now we have the Curiosity rover over there to really sort things out.

Among other adventures, Curiosity is looking for organic molecules. The discovery of organic compounds could indicate previous life on Mars, though that life isn't likely to look like a toothy, long-headed alien that wants to hug your face.

While we wait for the rover to wander around and report back on its findings over the course of its mission, we have plenty of time to speculate about what it might find. … Read more

Why the Mars rover has a measly 2MP camera

Geeks everywhere are riveted by the new images of Mars the Curiosity rover is beaming back to Earth. What you might be surprised to hear is just how few megapixels are involved in bringing those photos to us.

The rover sports 12 cameras in all, but the main imaging cameras have measly 2MP sensors. Wait, what? Was NASA trying to discourage the rover from taking too many vacation snapshots?… Read more

Curiosity's Gale Crater panoramic vistas (pictures)

With the masthead fully extended and the Curiosity rover's systems coming to life on the surface of Mars, NASA is beginning to return stunning views of the Red Planet, and today the agency released two stunning 360-degree panoramas from inside the Gale Crater.

Click the images to see the full-size panoramas from the surface of Mars. (And when you're done viewing a full-size version, scroll to the bottom right corner of the image to close it.)

 

 

You can see the full-resolution version of the above panorama here.

 

 

You can see the full-resolution version of … Read more

NASA's Morpheus moon lander crashes and burns

While the world is still basking in the glow of NASA's successful landing of its Curiosity rover on Mars, a flight of the space agency's experimental Morpheus lander had a much more unfortunate ending today.

According to Space.com, the lander crashed and burned at Kennedy Space Center this afternoon after its first free-flight test went badly awry.

"The @MorpheusLander experienced a failure, causing it to catch fire," NASA tweeted. "No one was injured. Information will be released as soon as possible."

But Space.com added that in a statement, NASA said that, "… Read more

Low Latency No. 32: Rover Street View

Low Latency is a weekly comic on CNET's Crave blog written by CNET editor and podcast host Jeff Bakalar and illustrated by Blake Stevenson. Be sure to check Crave every Thursday at 8 a.m. PT for new panels! Want more? Here's every Low Latency comic so far.

Viewers opted for the Web over TV to watch Curiosity's landing

More Curiosity fans took to the Web to watch the rover's highly anticipated landing on Mars than those tuning into cable TV.

According to Mashable, more than 3.2 million people viewed the nail-biting descent nicknamed "seven minutes of terror" via Ustream's live streaming platform on Sunday night.

"More people tuned in to watch the NASA Mars landing coverage on Ustream than many of the top cable news networks during Sunday prime time," Ustream spokesman Tony Riggins told Mashable.

The Mars rover settled into Mars' Gale Crater, surviving its white-knuckle plunge in remarkably good … Read more